§ MR. SAMUEL ROBERTS (Sheffield, Ecclesall)To ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that closing sub-post offices for the sale of stamps at 8 p.m. is a cause of inconvenience in many places; and whether he can see his way to allow stamps to be sold after 8 p.m. in those sub-post offices which are attached to shops remaining open after 8 p.m.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) I am not aware that the closing of sub-post offices for the sale of stamps at 8 p.m. is a cause of inconvenience in many places, and very few complaints have reached me. While I do not see my way to make it a rule that any sub-postmaster who keeps his private business open after 8 p.m. should sell stamps, I do not propose to place any obstacle in the way of a sub-postmaster who elects to do so. I should, perhaps, add that the Post Office endeavours to meet the convenience of the public by recommending the Inland Revenue to issue licences, wherever a case is shown for the sale of postage stamps, to tradesmen who frequently keep their shops open late at night.